"But I wouldn't do that," the 67-year-old divorced man joked to the Daily News, battling a hangover the day after drinking three bottles of champagne in celebration of his winnings.

A quick pit stop for some ice and lottery tickets while driving home from vacation made a judge and his two friends $291.4 million richer. (ABC GMA)

Stocklas, from Bethlehem, Pa., was on his way back home on Monday in his RV from a monthlong fishing vacation in Florida with his brother and sister-in-law, when he stopped at a local Marathon gas station to buy ice and some lottery tickets.

The judge had a long tradition of pooling weekly lottery ticket purchases with two of his friends, Barry Bartikovits and a woman who only wanted to be referred to as Anna.

It wasn't until Stocklas was back home on Friday and eating at his favorite local diner where his friend, Anna, also was, that he pulled out his phone and saw the winning numbers matched the ones on his ticket.

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"I said, 'Shit we're rich!'" Stocklas said. "Then it was chaos in the restaurant. I looked at her (Anna) and we were jumping up and down," before he picked up the bill for everyone's breakfast.

"I said 'everyone in the restaurant right now, breakfast is on me!"

Then the retired judge asked his friend, who owns a private jet business, to fly him back down to Florida in one day to verify his ticket, a trip that cost him $20,000.

James Stocklas, a longtime judge in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and some friends were driving back north Wednesday after fishing in the Florida Keys while on vacation. (ABC GMA)

Stocklas went home with a total of $40 million after splitting the winnings three ways and accounting for taxes.

Stocklas said he'll use the winnings to pay off his mortgage and to do "certain things that will make life a little easier" and that he'll still work occasionally as a senior judge filling in on cases.

He also said he'll be taking care of his two grown children and his brother, who only came away with $7 in powerball winnings from a ticket he bought at the same time.

"We've been laughing a lot about it, he doesn't need to worry about nothing. Family's family. He's not going to worry about anything."